Beautiful Music

Sunday

May 27, 2007 at 2:00 AM

By Gabriella Burnham I&M Staff Writer

Mary Keller envisions her perfect concert as a serenade of 12 dinner guests, sitting in a relaxed corner with resonant acoustics.

That’s quite a difference from the cacophonous chorus of construction workers, creaky walls and the occasional weed-trimmer that intermittently interrupted the recording of her new CD, “Music From Our Heartstrings,” with island cellist Mollie Glazer. It is their first album together, recorded at a friend’s cottage in Sconset last winter.

“It was recorded as if it were a live concert. We weren’t in separate glass booths so we could tweak things in the recording,” said Glazer. “It’s not that kind of recording. It has its imperfections. It’s human . . . In other words, the cello can be heard in the harp’s microphone, and the harp in the cello’s.”

The two musicians, who will debut the CD during a 3 p.m. concert May 27 in the Great Hall of the Nantucket Atheneum, found it only natural that such old friends – both themselves and their instruments – should produce a recorded album.

“The harp allows the cello to sing. A piano can often cover up the middle range of the cello. Balance-wise, they’re paired really well,” said Glazer, who has worked with Keller for about 10 years performing at weddings and other functions.

“Music From Our Heartstrings” offers a range of compositions from Bach and Handel to Medieval dance and Irish and Jewish folk tunes. None of the pieces, though, are written specifically for the harp or the cello, mainly because they have a limited repertoire, said Keller.

“We chose music that is easy for the outside ear to understand. The music is accessible . . . we tried to find some pieces that are popular, like ‘Ave Maria,’ and some that are off the beaten path.” The CD includes 16 tracks in total, two of which are solo pieces by Keller, and feature no other instruments besides the often soft-spoken cello and harp. Aside from the finicky aural conditions of their makeshift studio, and the quiet nature of the instruments, the harp and cello can also be temperamental instruments when it comes to weather, added Keller.

“There’s a joke that harpists spend half their time tuning their harp, and the other half playing an out-of-tune harp,” she said of the harp’s tendency to fluctuate with the dampness of the environment.

“Together I think they are a very warm tone. They’re kind of intense and expressive. I’ve always thought that the tone of the harp has a lot of light in it and the cello has a lot of expression. They’re both wood instruments, and they produce different tones, but together it’s a beautiful combination,” Keller said.

Listeners can also catch the harpist playing solo performances at the Company of the Cauldron restaurant on India Street at select dinners and at private events. Glazer tends to devote her time to teaching cello lessons at the Harmony House childcare center, the Lighthouse School and at the Nantucket Community Music Center, where she was recently appointed executive director. She also performs at private weddings in season comes around, both alongside and without Keller.

Glazer sees the making of “Music From Our Heartstrings” as a sort-of testament to the musical skill they have developed over decades of practicing and performing.

“(My motivations for playing have) changed over the course of my life. When I was younger I wanted to be flashy. At this point, I’m much more interested in honesty and egoless playing, that I am connected to the highest place to myself at that moment. I like that challenge. I like to find that place of divine connection where it’s coming from me and I’m not controlling it. It’s a high vibration, music. That’s what I’m interested in, being in that high vibration.”

Mary Keller and Mollie Glazer will perform pieces from their CD, “Music From Our Heartstrings,” at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 27 in the Great Hall of the Nantucket Atheneum, I India St.

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